Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth, who was commissioned into the Indian Air Force as one of the first women fighter pilots in 2016, has created history by becoming the first woman to qualify for combat missions on a fighter jet. She has successfully completed the operational syllabus for carrying out combat missions on MiG-21 Bison aircraft, during the day.

"She is the first woman fighter pilot to be qualified to undertake missions on a fighter aircraft by day. She has been able to achieve this feat with her hard work and perseverance," Air Force Spokesperson Group Captain Anupam Banerjee was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

The MiG-21 is the oldest frontline combat jet in service with the Indian Air Force, having first entered service in 1964. The jet has been regularly upgraded since then. The MiG-21 "Bison" is the definitive variant of the legacy fighter.

Bhawana Kanth, who is from the first batch of woman fighter pilots of the IAF, joined the fighter squadron in 2017. She flew solo on MiG-21 Bison last year and is now posted at the Nal base in Rajasthan's Bikaner. 

Indian Air Force today successfully fired the BrahMos air version missile from its frontline Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft. 

Defence Ministry said in a release that the launch from the aircraft was smooth and the missile followed the desired trajectory before directly hitting the land target. AIR correspondent reports that, the air launched BrahMos missile is a 2.5 ton supersonic air to surface cruise missile. 

The Inidan Air Force became the first Air Force in the world to have successfully fired an air launched 2.8 Mach surface attack missile of this category on a sea target on Novemebr 2017. Today’s was the second such live launch of the weapon. 

The BrahMos missile provides Indian Air Force a much desired capability to strike from large stand-off ranges on any target at sea or on land with pinpoint accuracy by day or night and in all weather conditions. 

India's economy is projected to grow at 7.1 percent in fiscal year 2020 on the back of strong domestic consumption and investment but the GDP growth is a downward revision from the 7.4 percent estimated in January this year, according to a report by the United Nations.

The World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2019 Mid-year Update, released here May 21, said that the Indian economy, which generates two-thirds of the regional output in South Asia, expanded by 7.2 percent in 2018.

"Strong domestic consumption and investment will continue to support growth, which is projected at 7.0 percent in 2019 and 7.1 percent in 2020," the report said.

The estimates for India, however, reflect a downward revision from the projections made in the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2019 report released in January this year. That report had estimated that India would grow at 7.6 percent in fiscal year 2019 and 7.4 percent in 2020. It must be noted that despite the downward revisions, India remains the fastest growing major economy in the world, ahead of China.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has called upon every citizen to adopt sustainable ways to lead life and become change agents by conserving natural resources.

In a tweet on the occasion of International Day for Biological Diversity, Mr Naidu said, people must teach the importance of preserving biodiversity and maintaining ecological balance to children. 

He said, maintaining biodiversity is an important aspect of the well-being of the planet earth. Mr Naidu said it is important to preserve biodiversity and natural resources for ensuring ecological balance. 

The Vice President said, climate change, destruction of habitats, pollution and loss of green cover are posing a grave threat to biodiversity, and people must act swiftly to correct the situation. He called upon people to love and live with nature and protect culture for a better future.

An author from Oman has won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for "Celestial Bodies", the story of three sisters of a desert country confronting its slave-owning past and a complex modern world.

Jokha Alharthi, the first Arabic-language writer to take the prize, will split the 50,000 pounds or 64,000 US dollar purse with her UK-based translator, Marilyn Booth. 

Historian Bettany Hughes, who led the judging panel, said yesterday that the winning novel was "a book to win over the head and the heart in equal measure.

 "Celestial Bodies" beat five other finalists from Europe and South America, including last year's winner, Poland's Olga Tokarczuk. The prize is a counterpart to the Man Booker Prize for English-language novels and is open to books in any language that has been translated into English.

Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully launched its earth observation satellite RISAT-2B from Sriharikota.  ISRO's trusted workhorse PSLV-C46 carrying RISAT-2B blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 5:30 this morning. 

The 615 kg satellite was released into the orbit 15 minutes after the lift-off. RISAT-2B meant for application in fields such as surveillance, agriculture, forestry and disaster management support. It will replace the RISAT-2, which was launched in 2009.

Soon after the launch, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said this particular mission is really important in the sense that PSLV has crossed a landmark of launching 50 tonnes into space. 

He said, there are several new features in RISAT-2B. Dr Sivan said, it is having expanded Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) making it an advanced earth observation satellite, operating in spotlight mode, mode and mosaic mode.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed varsities and higher educational institutions to observe 21 May as Anti-Terrorism day to wean away the youth from terrorism.

The activities suggested for the day include debates, discussions, symposium, pledge taking ceremony and screening of films. "Every year May 21 is observed as Anti-Terrorism day in India to wean away the youth from terrorism and showing as to how it is prejudicial to the national interest," the commission said in a letter to vice-chancellors.

"You are requested to kindly observe the 'Anti-terrorism day' in your university and in your affiliated colleges on 21 May 2019. You should accordingly organise appropriate programmes suggested by the Ministry of Home Affairs," the letter stated. 

Indonesia's Joko Widodo has been re-elected as president of the country, beating rival Prabowo Subianto, a retired general.

The elections commission has said Widodo and his vice-presidential running mate Ma'ruf Amin won the election by a 55.5 percent to 44.5 percent margin over Subianto and Sandiaga Uno.

The commission was expected to announce the official results of the April 17 poll tomorrow. But amid fears about unrest and street demonstrations in response to the final count, the final tally was released early with little advance notice.

57-year-old Widodo, had been widely predicted to win according to unofficial results. His challenger 67-year-old Subianto, has vowed to challenge any victory for Widodo, alleging widespread voter fraud, and warned that it could spark street protests across the country.

ONGC had a net profit of Rs 19,945.26 crore in 2017-18 fiscal, lagging behind IOC
Reliance Industries has toppled state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to become the country’s biggest company by revenue.

The Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate, in the 2018-19 fiscal year that ended March 31, reported a turnover of Rs 6.23 lakh crore. In comparison, IOC posted a turnover of Rs 6.17 lakh crore for the fiscal, according to regulatory filings by the two companies.

It was also the most profitable company in the country with a net profit of more than double that of IOC in FY2019.

Reliance was about half the size of IOC till about a decade back. Its bet on burgeoning consumer base and foray into new businesses such as telecom, retail, and digital services vastly expanded its business, clocked a net profit of Rs 39,588 crore in FY19. IOC, on the other hand, ended the year with a net profit of Rs 17.274 crore.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will leave for Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan today to represent India in the meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

The two day meeting will begin from today. This will be the second CFM meeting that India will be attending as a full member of SCO.

AIR correspondent reports that the meeting will review the preparations for the forthcoming SCO Summit in Bishkek which will begin from 13th of next month. 

The Council of Foreign Ministers will  also exchange views on topical issues of international and regional importance. 

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had also attended the last CFM meeting in China in April last year.